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Subject Line: [Health-Medicine] Y2K disclaimer from Medical Data Electronics ... Anybody care be a healthcare Y2K "guinea pig?"

I love this warm, Y2K-assuring "fuzzy" from Medical Data Electronics denoting caveats re "difficulty" and "Y2K issues" in the healthcare medical electronics industry ...

"Other than historical information set forth herein, this announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the ability of Data Critical to improve hospital productivity and patient care. Actual results could be materially different from those discussed in this announcement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others: lack of adoption by customers, lack of profitability, dependency on a small number of strategic partners, ... lack of technological innovation, inability of infrastructure to keep pace with growth, difficulty in obtaining required government approvals, difficulty in competing in the market for wireless data communications, lack of personnel retention, dependency on third party suppliers, changes in the healthcare industry and Y2K issues. Additional risks associated with Data Critical's business can be found in its recent Registration Statement and other periodic filings with the SEC."

How is it humanly possible for medical (i.e., facility, physician, etc.) liability insurance providers, in good conscience, condone this kind of Y2K-weasling in the healthcare industry? ( Rhetorical question, this is! )

... Anybody care be a healthcare Y2K "guinea pig?" ...

Regards, Bob Mangus

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For educational purposes only ... blah, blah, blah ...

Monday October 11, 10:02 am Eastern Time Company Press Release

Data Critical Signs Agreement With Medical Data Electronics

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 1999--Data Critical Corporation, a wireless communications technology company, today signed an agreement with Medical Data Electronics (MDE), a patient monitoring provider, for development and distribution of the StatView(TM) system.

Under the new agreement, Data Critical's StatView Wireless Telemedicine(TM) system will be integrated with MDE's Escort-Vision(TM) wireless patient monitoring systems and will be jointly marketed by MDE and Data Critical.

``We believe that our alignment with MDE will allow Data Critical to provide more hospitals advanced communications solutions that deliver high value, time-sensitive data via wireless networks,'' said Brad Harlow, vice president of business development and general manager-international of Data Critical.

Data Critical's Wireless Telemedicine uses a proprietary compression technology to acquire patient data from central monitoring systems and send it directly to caregivers, giving them the power to provide near-immediate patient feedback. Data Critical believes that its technology enhances overall productivity by providing a means of converting patient monitoring information into wireless data that nurses can access within the hospital.

``We're thrilled to include Data Critical's technology as an extension to our family of wireless patient monitoring systems,'' said Don Swetlik, MDE general manager. ``The StatView integration further enhances our ability to provide flexible, innovative monitoring solutions designed to increase patient care and efficiency while improving outcomes. As MDE's combination of multi-parameter telemetry and wireless bedside monitoring systems are placed in an increasing number of higher-acuity applications, the need to provide timely notification of critical alarm data directly to the caregiver is becoming more important.''

Data Critical's StatView system features a hand-held receiver that allows nurses remote access to alarm data. Within approximately 10 seconds of a patient's alarm, StatView displays the current ECG waveform and patient location and information.

Data Critical Corporation, based in Bothell, Wash., was founded in 1993. Data Critical manufactures and markets mission-critical personal information systems, including wireless-data, hand-held computing and network systems. It brings Wireless Telemedicine(TM) and computing solutions to the healthcare industry. Data Critical Corporation products include StatView and MobileView(TM). Visit Data Critical's website at www.datacritical.com

For more than 20 years, Medical Data Electronics has been a leader in the design and manufacturing of innovative patient monitoring solutions for effective and efficient healthcare delivery. MDE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thermo Electron, a leader in analytical and monitoring instruments and a major producer of biomedical products, paper recycling equipment and alternative-energy systems. Visit MDE's website at www.MDESolutions.com

Other than historical information set forth herein, this announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the ability of Data Critical to improve hospital productivity and patient care. Actual results could be materially different from those discussed in this announcement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others: lack of adoption by customers, lack of profitability, dependency on a small number of strategic partners, commitment of substantial resources to marketing, development and operations expenses, dependency of revenues on the timing of customer installations, lack of technological innovation, inability of infrastructure to keep pace with growth, difficulty in obtaining required government approvals, difficulty in competing in the market for wireless data communications, lack of personnel retention, dependency on third party suppliers, changes in the healthcare industry and Y2K issues. Additional risks associated with Data Critical's business can be found in its recent Registration Statement and other periodic filings with the SEC.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact:

Data Critical Corp. Brad Harlow, 425/882-6065 BHarlow@datacrit.com

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[END TEXT]

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-- Robert Mangus (rmangus1@yahoo.com), October 12, 1999

Answers

this looks like part of their SEC filing, doesn't it? as i look at these, it seems to me that by stating the worst case scenario they are making some sort of legal maneuver. does anyone know if under the Year 2000 legislation that was passed, that this type of statement would absolve a company of some or all of their legal liabilities in the event of a failure?

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoo.com), October 12, 1999.

This sounds pretty much like what all of the companies engaged in pharmaceuticals and medical devices are having to include, mostly to protect themselves from scummy lawyer types. We are interpreting them as "reasonable" people and they do seem quite paranoid.

-- Evelyn (equus@barn.now), October 13, 1999.